Overturned truck snarls traffic on I-215

MURRIETA -- Drivers headed south on Interstate 215 encountered
long delays Monday after a tractor-trailer overturned, blocking
both lanes of the freeway.

One person was injured in the 11:55 a.m. crash just north of Los
Alamos Road, California Highway Patrol Officer Sig Ceballos
said.

Officers say the crash happened on a stretch of the road where
workers with the Department of Transportation had closed one lane,
causing drivers to slow.

The driver of the big-rig, a 40-year-old Loma Linda man, braked
and swerved but was unable to avoid hitting the car in front of him
when traffic abruptly stopped, Ceballos said. The driver locked up
the truck's brakes and swerved, hoping to avoid the crash, but
instead lost control of the truck, which overturned after its load
shifted.

The driver of the car that was struck, a 63-year-old Riverside
woman, sustained minor injuries to her left arm and the back of her
head but was not hospitalized, Ceballos said.

Traffic was diverted off the freeway onto Clinton Keith Road
until one lane of the highway was reopened about an hour and a half
later.

The southbound commute remained slow into the evening, while
officers and tow truck drivers worked to right the rig.